Seagate DJI Fly Drive – Hard Drive to match your DJI

Seagate sent me one to try out – and I was somewhat surprised that it didn’t have more “DJI class” features and/or options. There is so much that could have been done with it – but as it stands, it’s a USB-C external drive with a rubber bumper and MicroSD slot. The micro slot doesn’t matter at all since you need to hook it to a laptop anyway – and laptops have a card adapter.

Maybe DJI just wanted a quick branded product and didn’t want to invest. Here is my critique – please forward to the team and take it in the spirit in which it is provided.

If you look at the Amazon reviews you get a slight idea that this product lacks innovation. But even worse, for many computer users it doesn’t work at all without buying extra cables (and they may not work).

So let me go in order of improvements….

The Fly Drive comes packaged nicely with the drive itself (2TB), a USB-C cord (power and data transfer) and a rubber bumper case to make it slightly more rugged.

1. Since they decided to use USB-C, they should have included a regular USB adapter. I have three macs and none of them have USB-C. The guy at the Apple Store tells me very few customers have USB-C at this time. As a result, I was unable to use the drive at all when I received it.

I ordered from amazon a USB to USB-C converter. It took a few days to arrive – and when it got here it still didn’t work. The drive powered up but it would not mount. It turns out you need a certain type (one piece…can’t use a Amazon basics USB-C to USB and then a straight USB cord) or the drive will not mount. The guy at the Apple store worked with me on this and we found that the Belkin worked. Amazon since has put together a package with a cable that works – at http://amzn.to/2jJ2NNN

An included adapter would at least make it work – so it wouldn’t be frustrating and a few units might sell without a lot of returns.

How it should be!I have to assume the team had a very limited scope and budget here. Anyone designing such a drive might consider: A. Make it rechargeable – again, having to have a computer with you does away with the need for the drive anyway. B. Make it self-contained – By using a small B&W or status screen and a few buttons (or touch screen), the entire drive would work without any computer. It could be hooked via USB direct to a Drone – and/or the card inserted into it. Then a series of instructions would be presented (move all images and videos to FlyDrive)….and then even a preview (if color screen) or at least a readout of the number of files and size and your software could confirm they are “good” DJI files. Then the option to erase 25%, 50% or 100% could be given. If a color touchscreen was used, even separate files could be erased. C. Although this might be costly, the ability to upload images and videos from IOS (DJI Go and Go4) could be accomplished in various methods (wired or wireless).

As you see, the entire idea here is portability. If I take my Mavic in the bag, I can slip this drive in – but not my laptop.

Drive with rubber bumper and MicroDC Card

Anyway, there are lot of more details which could be added but, again, my guess is that your team knew about all of these and were asked to produce something quickly just for the “brand”.

But – at least have an adapter in there to regular USB – or a message on the box that it needs one and works with “the following brands”…..

PS. The ultimate setup would be a tiny 512G SSD device with a built in color screen and full control over everything wired or wireless! It could even have additional slots to add more storage. I’m thinking about 2″ square…and just thick enough for the cables and screen (iphone thickness). Connection with the Drones/Osmo/Phones could be over multiple channel – usb, bluetooth, wireless, etc.

Bottom LineAs it stands – purchased with the proper cable, it’s a cute accessory and/or gift item for the DJI lover in your life – or for yourself. However, it could be so much more…and it’s our hopes that a higher priced unit with “real DJI” software and functions will someday emerge from the engineering dept. at DJI.